Scott’s Blog

At 5,000-feet, high atop Idaho’s Joseph Plains, we just came off what’s likely my most exciting turkey hunt in nearly 30 years.  Conditions were tough, with high winds, snow and rain, but when the weather broke, the toms were hot. Prior to our arrival, exceptional weather shined, and much of the breeding was done by the time we reached the hunting grounds.  This meant mature toms were traveling and eager to inspect any calls. With two tags to fill, I used a variety of calls and decoys, to help close the deal on this DIY hunt.  On the first morning, a hen decoy I made with the help of good friend and taxidermist, Bruce Hallingstad, was the decoy of choice.  On the first setup, 8 toms approached, all from different directions. Given the big, rugged country, it took 45 minutes for the first tom to reach us, figuring he traveled well over a half-mile through timber, across a creek and two deep, brushy canyons.  It took a range of Point Blank turkey calls to keep the bird focused, from their diaphragm to the Mother Load box call to two different pot calls (the Iron Man being a favorite), to their push-button [...]

Antelope hunting is one of our family's favorite adventures.  The weather is usually nice, animals are plentiful and if you botch one stalk, you'll be making another, soon.  Most of my antelope hunting over the years has been done with bow, during the rut.  But on this hunt, the family headed to Wyoming in late October, capitalizing on late season migrations. We were hunting north of Buffalo, Wyoming, with good friend and outfitter, Jon Ball (www.jonsoutdoors.com).  Jon has access to more than 50,000 acres, and this is where many antelope migrate to this time of year.  The best part, all of our party's tags were picked up over-the-counter, when we arrived in Sheridan.  Having leftover tags like this is great for planning a last minute hunt, or if you're unsuccessful in other drawings. First to hunt was my dad, Jerry Haugen and our friend, Chris Stewart.  Dad and I hadn't hunted pronghorns in WY for nearly a decade, and it was nice to be in the open desert with him, again.  Chris is the owner of several Dutch Brother's coffee shops in our home town, so, after landing in Sheridan and grabbing some Starbucks coffees, we headed out hunting. Dad connected [...]

Braxton and I just came off a hunt we’ll never forget.  We were chasing blacktails in southern, OR, with Mike Lee of Southern Oregon Blacktails.  Like many folks in the Pac. NW, we love our blacktail hunting, and since entering the world of TV, discovered that the weather and open country of southern OR is much more camera-friendly than where our family has hunted them for generations in the Willamette Valley. This was our first long range blacktail hunt, and the pieces started coming together when Trijicon developed their TARS (Tactical Advanced Rifle Scope).  Though designed for the military–which Trijicon has been specializing in for more than 30 years–we thought there would be a hunting application for this precision optic. The scope was mounted on a custom .338 Edge built by master gunsmith, Curt Mendenhall, of Sutherlin, OR.  Shooting handloaded 300 grain Nosler AccuBonds, the gun was zeroed at 300 yards and shooting comfortably to 1,300 yards.  The first group we shot at 710 yards measured 1.5”. One of the reasons we chose to hunt with Mike Lee, in addition to his ability to find big blacktails, was the fact he is way more versed in long range shooting than us.  [...]

It was great to be back in some of my old stomping grounds, not only in Alaska, but Alaska’s Arctic!  I love this part of the world, and as many of you may know, my wife and I were school teachers on the North Slope through most of the 1990s.  This is an amazing land, unlike any I’ve encountered; It’s a place my first book was written about, Hunting The Alaskan High Arctic (still my favorite work). This eight day adventure found fellow writer, Paul Atkins and I going after grizzly and moose.  Paul has lived in Kotzebue going on 15 years, where he currently teaches math at the local college and high school and is a freelance outdoor writer, and a good one. Headed to camp We hopped on a bush plane and headed out, 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle, on the southern slopes of the Brooks Range.  I’d drawn a prized moose tag, while paul held a grizzly and moose tag. All started well, with Paul taking a gorgeous blond grizzly on the afternoon of day 1.  We saw four other grizzlies, and though we had tracks around camp, never had any bear encounters. Over [...]

We just returned from another trip to Zimbabwe with Jonathan Collett of Touch Africa Safaris (www.touchafricasafaris.com).  As before, our trip was filled with great memories, but the two weeks of hunting went way too fast! This time, top priority was leopard.  The leopard density in this region is reportedly tops in the country, and after a day of hanging baits, I saw why.  Of the six baits we hung on the first day, four got hit...seven of eight baits got hit the next night.  Gathering baits (impala and zebra) was fun and an integral part of the cat hunt, something I was glad to be a part of.  Setting and checking trail cameras was also a rush, an experience quite different than checking them for deer and elk, back home. We caught multiple cats on multiple baits, including two nice toms.  On day three, after repeated hits on one bait by a big tom, it was time to build a blind.  By 4:00 p.m. we were in the blind, and at 9:30 a cat paid a visit.  We had a wireless mic’ set up at the bait, so could hear the cat actually walking into the bait, 70 yards from where [...]

Australia is a land I love; full of beauty, mystery and remote places that makes hunting there very special.  The animals in the Land Down Under are unique, and there’s a reason I keep going back to this great place. But on this, my 5th trip to Oz, I was joined by some good friends from Trijicon.  For Tim Adams, Greg Findlay and Trey Lloyd, it was their first time to hunt Australia, making my time there even more special. Before the Trijicon crew arrived, I started the hunt, chasing scrub bulls a few hours out of Brisbane.  Scrub bulls are Australia’s most dangerous big game animal, and are wild cattle that have lived their lives in the Outback, escaping the muster.  Old bulls are big, aggressive and tough.  During the breeding season they leave the remote Outback to find receptive cows, just like elk do.  They tear up fences, mess up bloodlines of prime breeding stock and even kill prized breeding bulls–that’s why ranchers want them gone. My timing was right on this hunt, thanks to outfitter Peter Edser of High Country Safaris (bookings@highcountrysafaris.com.au).  Peter had APBs out all over the region, and just as we headed out to check [...]